Best eSIM roaming data add-on plans for trips in Western Europe

Note: This feature was first published on 5 December 2024.

It's impossible to travel without roaming data these days. Aside from staying connected to your family and friends, you also need it for entertainment, navigation, and payments. Happily, roaming data is considerably more affordable and convenient these days thanks to the widespread availability of eSIM roaming data add-on plans. These plans allow you to get roaming data without having to switch providers or even swap out SIM cards.

Now, we are continuing our series of eSIM guides with Western Europe. In this article, you'll find  eSIM recommendations for 11 Western European countries. The list of countries is below and you can click on the country you want to skip straight to our recommendation.

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

Individual countries aside, we also have recommendations for regional travel – great for folks who are visiting multiple countries at one go.

• Regional Europe eSIM

Western Europe aside, we also covered Southeast Asia and East Asia earlier, and you can see those guides here:

• Best eSIM roaming data add-on plans for trips in Southeast Asia
• Best eSIM roaming data plans for trips to China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan

Before we begin with our recommendations, here are some criteria that we set for this guide.

Note 1: For the purpose of comparison, we’ve set a benchmark data usage of 500MB per day. Thus, for 7 days we considered a minimum data allocation of 3.5GB. 

Note 2: Plans featured in this eSIM roaming data plan compilation are the core offerings from each brand. In making our comparisons, we have left out the temporary promotional pricing and gone with the core pricing.  

Note 3: Recommendations made do not take into account network performance/reach and are based on overall plan proposition/offerings and value for international roaming data.

Austria

Besides the options from Jetpac and WeFly, Airalo’s Austria (30days, 5GB) plan and Ubigi’s Austria (7days, 10GB) are both worth a look. Airalo’s plan costs $10.58 on 3AT’s 5G network and is good for 30 days. On the other hand, Ubigi uses providers A1 Telekom and H3G, offers 10GB of data, and offers up to 5G speeds.

Belgium

Jetpac's Europe (30 days, 5GB data) is the standout option here, but Zero1 2Go’s Europe (7 days, 2GB data) plan is worth a look too. You’ll need two packs to cover the 3.5GB data requirement, but even then, the total cost comes up to only $12.08. Furthermore, you’ll get 3G/4G/5G data and coverage in over 30 countries.

France

For France, Ubigi’s France (30 days, 10GB data) plan stands out. At just $9.37, it’s even cheaper than Jetpac’s offering and you get twice the amount of data at up to 5G speeds. If you are stopping over at other countries in the region, consider Jetpac's Europe (30 days, 5GB data) plan.

Germany

WeFly’s Germany (7 days, 500MB data/day) best fits the bill here. This gives you 500MB of 4G data per day, with unlimited data at reduced speeds after the 500MB cap. WeFly taps on operators Vodafone, Telefonica (E-Plus) and Telefonica/O2 for coverage in Germany.

Greece

Jetpac's Europe (30 days, 5GB data) regional plan offers the best value by far for Greece. S$9.50 gets you 5GB of data and lasts 30 days. If you need more data, consider Ubigi, which gets you 10GB for S$4 more.

Italy

If you need more data in Italy, go with Ubigi’s Italy (7 days, 10GB data) plan as an alternative. This gives 10GB of 3G/4G/5G data on providers Iliad and WindTre, and can also be used for data sharing. 10GB is plenty of a week-long trip.

Netherlands

The regional plans seem to give the best value here. Jetpac's Europe (30 days, 5GB data) plan, which offers 5GB for 30 days and even has 5G coverage, is unquestionably the best value for money here.

Portugal

For Portugal, you consider also consider Airalo’s Portugal (30 days, 5GB). This is slightly more expensive at $13.26, but you get 5GB of 4G data that’s valid for 30 days.

Spain

If you need more data, Ubigi’s Spain (7 days, 10GB data) plan is the way to go. It costs slightly more than offerings from Jetpac and WeFly, but you get 10GB of data, which should satisfy even the most data-hungry user.

Switzerland

As is the case with many other countries, Ubigi is the way to go if you want more data. Its plan offers 10GB of data for a week.

United Kingdom

Again, Ubigi's United Kingdom (7 days, 10GB data) plan is the way to go for users with demand ore data. For just a dollar or so more, you get 10GB of data.

Regional plans

If you are visiting multiple European countries on your trip, consider a regional eSIM plan. Such a plan covers multiple countries, which means you'll only need to purchase a single eSIM for the trip. This is usually more economical than buying individual plans for every country you are visiting. However, when purchasing such plans, ensure that the country you are visiting is covered. Here are our recommendations.

How much data do I really need?

The short answer is that more is always better. But considering budget restraints, you generally want to get just enough to cover your daily browsing needs while overseas. Generally, that would mean having enough data for maps and navigation, local apps for getting the best deals and tips at your travel destination, and, of course, data to update your socials and stay in touch with family and friends. Want to know how much data you need to keep up with your TV or movie fix? We’ve got that covered too; just refer to the table below. 

Note: These are estimates, actual figures will vary depending on various factors. Also, these estimates are based on doing nothing but that single activity for a whole hour. Your actual usage will differ since most people will be doing a mix of activities throughout the day.

According to Statista, the average person spends about 143 minutes on social media daily. That works out to around 230MB of data for social media. If we use our guideline of 500MB of data a day, this means you should have around 270MB of data remaining for other tasks like navigating, messaging, and emails. Furthermore, it's unlikely that you will spend as much time on social media while abroad since you'll likely be too occupied with other things.

Maximising your travel data

Now that we know how much data each activity consumes, let’s look at how to best maximise the travel data we have. 

There are three main ways:

• Preload maps and videos
• Lower streaming quality when on the go
• Rely mainly on Wi-Fi

Preload to skip the download

Research is usually a big part of any travel preparation, so why not download the maps you need for your trip at the same time? That gives you instant access when you need to navigate your way, and probably lowers the anxiety of being lost while waiting. Further, you won’t have to worry about spotty network coverage.

In Google Maps, simply search your location, tap to expand the result, then tap the three dots at the right corner and select “Download offline map”. 

If you plan on watching shows while travelling, definitely download them before your trip. Your favourite video streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV+ all have this option. Just browse to the show you want to watch, and click on the download button.

You can do the same for music too. Both Spotify and Apple Music have the option to download entire albums and playlists. Together, these tips will help you save precious roaming data.

Go low when on the go

Instagram, Facebook, Spotify and WhatsApp all have built-in settings to lower their data use. These will basically let you turn off media auto downloads or lower the quality of pictures or videos downloaded when you are using cellular data. If you need to stream shows, Netflix has a data saver option that reduces data usage to 1GB per 6 hours of video. Disney+, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Video all have similar options too.

However, even with these data-saving modes activated, it's clear that streaming videos consume a lot of data – relative to other online activities. Our recommendation is to hold off on streaming videos and wait until you can get to a place with Wi-Fi (more on this below).

Tap on to (trusted) Wi-Fi

The best way to conserve your roaming data is to wait till you’re on a trusted Wi-Fi network to do all your heavy downloads and uploads. Following the steps above should ensure that the apps you use don’t download in the background while you’re on roaming data. So, get your gaming fix and watch your movies or TV shows only when you have access to a secure Wi-Fi network. To keep yourself safe, we recommend using a VPN service to further secure your connection, so you can download and browse the web with greater peace of mind.

Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.